This invention relates to lacrosse sticks and, in particular, lacrosse stick heads formed with netting.
Lacrosse sticks are used in the sport of lacrosse which has been played for quite some time. Originally and for many years, the sticks for this sport were made from a suitable wood while the netting in the stick head was made and continues to be made from leather thongs intertwined with and connected to smaller thongs, cords or laces or from a nylon mesh. The typical head frame includes a throat portion or shank end portion to which a stick handle is affixed, one or two sidewalls extending from the throat portion and a lip portion or transverse wall that is connected to the outer end of a single sidewall or both outer ends of two sidewalls. The head frame supports the flexible netting which defines a ball pocket, traditionally located in the midsection or mouth area of the head.
In the course of playing the sport of lacrosse, a player who has caught a ball with his stick typically carries the ball in the ball pocket. The throat area is relatively narrow compared to the rest of the head and thus is able to more securely retain the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,756 issued Jun. 2, 1981 to Carl Ahlenfeld et al. describes a fairly typical lacrosse stick head having a pair of sidewalls diverging in a generally V-shaped manner from a throat area, a top portion joining the side walls, and a substantially transverse member extending between the sidewalls in the throat area. The conventional lacing used in this stick head comprises four longitudinally extending rawhide or leather thongs which are connected to the head by means of holes formed in the top or lip portion and holes in the region of the throat. Lacing or cord is intertwined between these thongs and is connected to the sidewall by holes formed therein.
Recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,434 issued Jul. 30, 1991 to Sports Licensing, Inc. describes a lacrosse stick head including a frame and netting attached thereto. There are two sidewalls that extend from the throat portion and diverge from one another. The opening formed by the frame can be described as generally pear-shaped. The preferred material for this frame is a substantially rigid, light weight plastic, such as nylon or polyurethane. The frame of this patent specification is shown with longitudinally extending ribs or ridges formed on the outside of the sidewalls.
Recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,372 issued Jan. 14, 1992 to Sports Licensing, Inc. describes a lacrosse stick head with inwardly extending side rib means on an interior surface of the sidewall. These ribs means are disposed, at least in part, proximate an upper edge of the sidewall and overlay the ball pocket. The preferred rib means are moulded integrally with the sidewalls and extend substantially normal to the interior surfaces of these walls. These known rib means are said to add rigidity to the sidewalls and to provide a ball retention aid because they overlay the netting in the vicinity of the ball pocket.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lacrosse stick head having a frame and a netting wherein the two sidewalls each have a lower section having an inner wall segment, that extends inwardly, and an outer wall segment that extends downwardly. The inner wall segment acts to strengthen and reinforce the sidewall and can, in the preferred version of the stick head, provide other advantages state hereinafter.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved lacrosse stick head having an improved hole arrangement for securing and adjusting longitudinally extending thongs that form a major part of the netting, these holes being arranged side-by-side along one or both sides of the shank end.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved lacrosse stick head in which the end of the lacrosse head is below that of the throat.
According to one aspect of the invention, a lacrosse stick head comprises a frame having a central longitudinal axis and netting attached to the frame. The frame comprises sidewall means extending from a throat portion of the frame to a mouth portion thereof and located on two opposite sides of the frame. The sidewall means on each side include an upper wall section and a lower section having an inner wall segment, that extends inwardly towards the longitudinal axis, and an outer wall segment that extends downwardly from the upper wall section. The inner wall segment is shorter than the outer wall segment and spaced a selected distance away from the mouth portion. Each outer wall segment has a bottom edge and holes therein approximate the bottom edge. The holes are provided for attaching the netting to the sidewalls.
According to another aspect of the invention, a lacrosse stick head comprises a frame having a central longitudinal axis, which frame includes sidewall means, a shank end portion connected to the sidewall means, and a transverse end wall connected to the outer end of the sidewall means. Netting, which is attached to the frame, includes several longitudinal thongs. A first set of holes is distributed along the end wall for connecting outer ends of the thongs to the end wall. A second set of holes is formed in or by the shank end portion for connecting inner ends of the thongs to the shank end portion. This second set includes several side one or two sides of the shank end portion. At least two of the side holes are located side-by-side on one side of the shank end portion. There is a respective one of the side holes for each of the longitudinal thongs and the one or two sides of the shank end portion having these side holes extend generally in the longitudinal direction of the stick head.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a lacrosse stick head comprises a frame and netting attached to the frame. The frame comprises a throat portion, first and second side walls extending from the throat portion and diverging from each other, a lip portion joined to ends of the sidewalls remote from the throat portion. The first sidewall is substantially straight in the longitudinal direction at least along an upper edge thereof. The second sidewall forms a convex curve extending in the longitudinal direction of the sidewall at least along an upper edge thereof with this convex curve facing towards the central longitudinal axis of the frame. The frame is made of strong, rigid plastics material.
A frame provided with inner and outer wall segments in the lower section can be provided with string attaching holes extending along each segment. This enables the user of this stick head to have a choice between stringing the lacing or cords to either the inner wall segment or the outer wall segment. The latter arrangement will allow a shallow ball pocket with good ball control and a fast release. However, if he attaches the lacing or cords to the inner wall segments, the user will obtain a deeper and narrower pocket and the stick will have a slower ball release (although more ball control).
If the stick head is provided with several side-by-side holes arranged in a row along one side of the shank end, these holes can be used to connect the inner ends of the thongs to the shank end portion of the frame. Locating the connecting holes in this manner makes it easier to adjust the length of the leathers or thongs prior to play or during play.
It will be understood that the accompanying drawings illustrate a particular device embodying the invention and these drawings are provided by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.